The Shreve Road Community Working Group announced that, beginning immediately, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will fund a planning study for Shreve Road. As part of the project, a traffic engineering consultant from VDOT will review Shreve Road from Route 29 (Lee Highway) to Route 7 (Leesburg Pike), obtain input from local residents and identify possible safety and traffic solutions.
The VDOT decision follows months of efforts by the Shreve Group to draw attention to the hazardous conditions on Shreve Road. As widely reported, in Aug. 2019, an impaired motorist driving on Shreve Road struck and killed a 60-year-old Falls Church woman while she was walking along an adjacent path. Since 2015, there have been 42 crashes on Shreve Rd., 19 of which involved injuries. An additional 30 crashes per year go unreported in cases where property damage is less than $1500 and no one is injured. In Oct. 2019, VDOT agreed to reduce the speed limit on a portion of Shreve Rd. by 5 MPH, but the bulk of the 2.5 mile corridor remains 35 MPH.
In Dec. 2019, with assistance from State Delegate Marcus Simon, the Shreve Group submitted a summary of community concerns to VDOT and participated in a town hall with local residents. The Shreve Group has prioritized the need for pedestrian infrastructure so that children can safely access Shrevewood Elementary School and cyclists and pedestrians can securely approach crossings for the W&OD trail. The Shreve Group has also highlighted the dangers at multiple 90-degree turns along the road.
For more information, visit shreveroad.org.
